Electric arc lamp



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H.A.GORN.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP: I N0. 309,454. Patented Dec. 16, 188

\ N PETERS. PhulD-Lilhographw, Waslnllgion. D. c.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. A. GORN.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

No. 309,454. Patented Dec. 16, 1884.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. A. GORN.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

N0. 309',454. Patented Dec. 16, 1884.

m /c/gw N. PETERS. Plwloinhugrnpher. Wnshluglml. u. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

HERMANN A. GORN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO XV.

1r. cxnnmn,

C. O. EVARTS, AN D V. T. SELLERS, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRlC -A RC LAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,454, dated December 16,1884.

Application filed April 3, 1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMANN A. GORN, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and 5 State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Arc Lamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

1c Myinvention relates to that class of electric lamps known as are lamps, and more particularly to those having several sets of carbons, and usually denominated duplex or multiplex lamps.

The principal objects of my improvements are: first, to provide certain means by which the differential action of two clectro-magncts may be utilized for automatically keeping the carbons in proper relative adjustment as they are consumed by feeding one toward the other; second, to provide an automatic cut-out by which, when any abnormal resistance occurs by reason of the exhaustion of the carbons, the failure of the carbon-feeding mech- 2 anism'to operate properly or for any other cause the lamp will be cut out from the electric circuit, thereby avoiding danger of injury to the same; and, third, to provide means for automatically causing a set of carbons which 0 has become exhausted to he succeeded in operation by another set. These objects are ac complished by the mechanism shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a lamp embodying my invention, with the supportingplate in section on line 1 1, Fig. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 a side view, of the upper portion of my lamp. Fig. 4 represents my swinging armature in connection with 40 clutches for feeding a carbon rod or holder.

A is a plate, on which are mounted two housings or frames, B and B, which afford support for the vertically movable carbon rods or holders O and G.

D is an electro-magnet supported upon plate A and electrically connected in the main circuit. The magnetD is provided at its upper end with a pole, E, the opposite faces of which are fiat, said pole being thus of rectangular form in section both longitudinally and transversely. One of the ends of said pole is extended over one side of the magnet, said ex tended end being provided with a stud, e, of insulating material. Upon the plate A is also supported an electro-magnet, D, of high resistance. This magnet is electrically connected in a shunt-circuit derived from the main circuit, and is provided with a flat pole, E, which is extended somewhat in both directions from the center of the magnet.

G is an angle or bell-crank lever pivoted on a screw-stud, F, preferably secured to the frame B. An armature, H, is secured to the longer downwardly-extemling arm of the said lever, said armature being of rectangular 6 5 form in cross-section. The lower face of the said armature is curved in the direction of its length, and its upper face straight.

To the shorter or horizontal arm of the lever G is pivoted a rod or link, I, which is connected with suitable mechanism for feeding the carbon-holdcrs, such mechanism being herein illustrated as consisting of a train of gears carried by a frame pivoted near its center and connected with a rack on the carbon- 7 holder. An escapemcnt controlled byastop,

a, secured to the plate A, serves to regulate the movement of the gears in a well-known manner. It will be understood that there will be a train of gearing with an escapemcnt for each of the carbon-holders. It will also be understood that clutches or gripping devices such as are well knownin the art maybe substituted for the gearing mechanism and be 0perated by suitable connections with the rod I 8 5 such, for example, as is shown in Fig. 4, in which U is an arm ol'a pivoted frame,by which gravitating clutches V, adapted to act on a carbon red, O, in a well-known manner, are carried. 0

D is an electro-1nagnet of high resistance supported by a bracket, J, projecting from the frame 13, and electrically connected in the shunt or derived circuit with the magnet D. The magnet D is provided at its lower end with a 5 pole, E, which is preferablyi'lat, like the poles Eand E. One end of the pole E is extended laterally, so as to project beyond its magnet toward the pole E of magnet D.

Attached to the pole E butinsulated thereroe from, is a contact-piece, c.

I is an armature consisting, preferably, of a soft-iron bar hinged to a lug, a, c insulating material attached to or supported upon the plate A, the upper end of the said bar being between the poles E and E lnsulatingly attached to the bar 1; is a contact-piece, p, facing the piece 0 of the pole E.

Iivoted to a projection preferably extended from the frame B is a lever, T, one end of which is slightly beveled off, so as to be operated by a beveled lug, c, on the carbon-holder O, the opposite end of said lever entering anoteh, c, in the carbon-holder G, where it is held by a spring, S, which bears against said lever.

L is a contact-brush pressing against the carbon rods or holders (3 and G, the latter carrying the positive carbons N and M, which are fastened to said holders in any suitable manner.

N and M are the negative carbons, arranged below, but in the same vertical plane with the positive carbons, said negative carbons being supported upon the globe-plate Q.

To provide for the universal adjustment of the negative carbons, so as to bring them in their proper positions .relative to the positive carbons, the seats for the socketed holders R of the former on the globe-plate are rounded or convex on their lower sides and concave on their upper sides to form a partial ball-socket, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

B R are binding-plates tor the holders It, said binding-plates being formed with annular lips 0", which form reduced bearings, admitting of a universal adjustment of the holders 11 when the set-nuts It" are loosened, the said holders fitting loosely in their seats, as shown in Fig. 1.

O and O arebinding-posts attached to plate A, but insulated therefrom.

The operation of my lamp is as follows: An electric current entering the lamp by the positive binding-post 0 will pass through cable 1. 2 over the helix of magnet l), thence through cable 3 4t and brush L to the carbon-hohlcrs. \Vhen the lamp is first put in operation, the holder 0 will be elevated far enough to permit one end of the lever T to enter the notch c in said holder, so that the carbons M and M will be held widely separated, and thus the current will pass through the holder (3, carbons N and N, and cable 5 (i to the negative binding-post O, and then to the nextlamp in the circuit or back to its source. The passage of the electric current over magnet D will causethc core of thclatter tobeeome energized, and its pole B, being thus lllttgllOtiZOtl,\\'lll attract the armature ll on lever G, moving said armature in the direction indicated by arrow 7:. The movement of the lever G, eommunieated through the rod 1 to the train of gears or the clutching or gripping mechanism heretofore referred to, in a well known manner, will cause the carbon-holder C to be raised slightly, thus separating the carbons N and 1N and producing the voltaic are. At the same time part of the electric current which has entered at the binding-post; O, or, in other words, a derived current, will pass by way of wire 7 S, magnet D' wire 8) 1t), magnet D, and wire 11 12 to the negative l binding-post 0. As the space between the carbons N and X will be slowly increased by their combustion, the resistance offered to the l passage of the main electric current from one I carbon to the other will also be increased, and the said current will therefore be more and l more diverted to the derived circuit.

result, the magnet D will become weaker and the magnet D stronger until the attractive power of the latter overbalanees that of the former, and the swinging armature H is moved in the direction opposite to that indicated by arrow h. This latter movement of the armature ll, communicated through the lever G- and rod 1. to the mechanism for operating the carbon-holders, will cause the positive carbon which is in operation to be fed slightly downward, or toward the negative carbon. This shifting of the positive carbon will restore the normal strength of the main electric current passing through the magnet D, giving the lat ter sufficient power to move the swinging armature from the magnet D to its normal po sition, and thereby suspend any further movement of the carbon-feeding mechanism. But should any abnormal resistance to the passage 1 of the main electric current through the carbon-holders and carbons occur at any time, by reason of the failure of the carbon-holder operating mechanism to act properly, by the breaking of a carbon or from any other cause, the magnet 1) would become weakened, while the increased how of the current in the dciived circuit would strengthen the magnets l) and D". As soon as the attractive power of the magnet l) on the armature or bar I even balances that of the magnet l), the said bar I will be moved toward the former magnet, bringing the contact-pieces r and p together. and p in contact a direct As a l l \Vith the pieces 0' passage is afforded for the main current from the positive bindingpost 0, through the conl ductors 13 14: and 15 16, to the negative bindl ing-post 0, without going through the magnets or lamp, and the lamp will thus be cut out from the main circuit, leaving the main current free to pass to the next lamp or back to its source. As soon, however, as the carbons are again brought into contact the main current will rc'energize the magnet D, which. becoming relatively stronger than the magnet 1 D will attract the bar away from the latter and break the contact of the pieces and 7), 1 when the lamp will again be in working order. This cut-out mechanism, operating as just described, is obviously much better than the socalled cutouts or safetyswitches which work independently of the magnet which is in the .main line. In the cut-outs just referred to it frequently l occurs that lamps in good. working condition c in the upper end of are cutout of the circuit by rezson of some disturbance in the current, as by the switching out of somelamps which are not working properly, or from other causes. As a result of such improper action of the cut-out a heavy spark is sometimes produced between the contactpieces of the cut-out or switch, which is not only liable to destroy the electrical connections in the lamp, but, under certain circumstances, may melt out the whole lamp. and even become the source of a coutlagration. This diffieulty is avoided in my lamp by a cut:- out or safety-switch that is kept open by a teed-controlling magnet in the main circuit, and is closed by aanagnet in a derived circuit: around the cut-out branch.

Another important feature of my cut-out is that the lamp will be automatically relighted when the separated carbons are again brought in contact with each other. W't'hen the car bonsNand N have become consumed, thelug the carbon-holder (I will come in contact with the beveled end of the lever '1, moving the opposite end of the said lever against the stress of spring S out ot the notch c in the carbon-holder C. The latter earbon-holder will then be tree to descend, bringing the carbons M M into contact, the carbon-h older 0 being prevented from descending farther by the contact of the lug c with the top of thet'rame B. As the consumed car bons will by this timehavebecome suii'icicntly separated to offer such resistance to the passage of the current communicated by the brush L to the earbon-holders as will cause the current to How by way of the carbons I M, the latter will immediately become lighted and the operation of the lamp will continue.

Althoughl have only shown two ol' can hens in my lamp, it will be understood that three or more sets of carbons automatically thrown into operation in the manner heretelore described may be used, if desired, and when all of the carbons have been consunurd thelamp will be autonn'itically cut out from the main circuit in the manner hereinbehn-e indicated.

As hereinbcfore stated, the poles if] and i I of the magnets and D are termed tint on both sides, so that they are rectangular in section both longitutlinally and transversely, instead of having their faces which are adjacent to the swinging armature curved to correspond to the arc in which the armature moves, as with some poles heretofore employed in con nection with swinging armatures.

It will be understood that the armature ll, though moving in close proximity to, is never in actual contact with, the poles E and E, and by itwill be obvious, under the well-known law that magnetic attraction between two bodies varies inversely with their distances, that as the corners c c of the poles E and IE will be nearest to the swinging armature the attraction will be greatest at these corners. From l l l constructing my poles in the term shown this it follows that it" thearmature were unintlucnced by the magnet I) it would be moved by the magnet l) until its center was adjacent to the corner 51' ot' the pole i while it the said pole were formed with an upper face curved to correspond to the are in which the armature, moves, it is clear that said armature,

when unintlucnced by the magnet 1), would I move in the direction of arrow h in Fig. 1 until its center was over the center of the core of the magnet 1). In other words, with the form 01' pole shown, the armature H, il' unintlucnced by the magnet l), would be in astatc of equilibrium relative to the magnet D when its center was adjacent to the corner 0 of the magnet ll], while under similar circumstances, but with a magnet having a curved face, the equilibriuni-point oi) the armature would only be reached when the center thereof was over the center or" the core of the magnet D; but as the armature will at all times be more or less attracted by the magnet D, it is clear that it will normally come to rest in a state of equilibrium with its center more or less to the right (Fig. .l) of the corner c of" the pole E. Thus it will be evident that the swinging armature, when acted upon by both of the magnets i) and I), will be moved only through a very small are, and as itwill pert'tn'm its function oi' operating the feeding mechanism of the carbons by such small movements, the l'eeding operations will be quickly etl' ected, and the steady intensity of the light of the lamp will be but slightly interfered with. In other words, by the peculiar construction of the poles, as set torth, the attractive power of the magnets is concentrated at the angles which they present toward the armature, instead of being spread over a great surface, as where the faces oi" the poles adjacent to the armal ure are curved to be concentric withthe curved time of the armature. As a consequence. whilepractically the same power may beexerted upon the armature by thctwo terms of poles rcl'erred to, this power, with the form ot poles which i employ, is exerted within narrower limits, and the armature will be caused to move less in extent but more rapidly, and any slight variation of the current will be more quickly felt and responded to by the lamp. Moreover, as the armature will be nicely balanced with relation to its path of movement, so that it can swing easily, there will be no dead-weight in the armati'trc to be overcome by the magnets, and its operation will thus obviously be very delicate, as it will be sensitive to comparatively slight variations in the ditl'erential attractions of the magnets due to the varying electric currents.

The magnets l) and D are preferably so wound and connected that the poles E and ll thereof, which are presented to the armature H, are both of the same direction or polarity.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and d esire to secure by Letters Patent 1. in an eleetriearc lamp, he combination,

with the carbon-feeding mechanism, of a swinging armature and two electro-magnets, one in the main circuit and the other in a derived cir cuit, said magnets being both provided with flat rectangular poles, and said armature being arranged to swing in proximity to the corners of said poles, substantially as set forth.

2. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination, with the carbonIeedinginechanism,of a swinging armature having a curved face and two electro-magnets having ilat poles, one of the said magnets being arranged in the main circuit and the other in a derived circuit, substantially as set forth.

23. In an electric-arclamp, the combination,

with the carbon-feeding mechanism and a swinging armature for operating the same, of

two elect-romagnets, one in the main and the other in a derived circuit, the arrangement being such that both magnets present like poles to the said armature, suliistantially as set forth.

4t. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination, with an armature for operating the carboni'eeding mechanism, and a switch or cut-out,

of main and shunt electro-magnets, the former arranged to serve the double purpose of assisting the operation of the said feeding mechanism and of keeping open the circuitclosed by said switch or cutout, and the latter serving to close said circuit, substantially as set forth.

5. In an electrical-c lamp, the combination, with the carbon-feeding mechanism and an armature for operating the same, of an electro-magnet for operating said armature arranged in the main circuit, a non-carbou-feed ing electro-magnct arranged in a shunt or de-- rived circuit, and a switch or cut-out placed between said magnets and controlled by their diii'erential action, substantially as set forth.

(5. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination, 1

with an electro-magnet arranged in the main circuit, and having a pole provided with an 1 insulating-stud, 01 an electro-magnet arranged I in a derived circuit, and having a pole to which is insulatingly attached a contact-piece, and a movable cut-out or armature arranged adjacent to the said magnetic poles, and haviu g an insulatinglyattached contactpiece, substantially as set forth.

7. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination, with the plate A and frame or housing 13, ot a magnet, I), supported by said plate and connected in the main circuit, the pole E, having the insulating-stud e,the magnet D-,supported by said frame and arranged in a derived circuit, the pole It, having the insulatingly-attached contact-piece and the cut-out bar or armature I insulatingly hinged to the plate A, and having the insulatingly-attaclicd coni tact-piece 19, substantially as set-forth. l S. In an electric-arc lamp, the combination, l with a main circuit containing one electro-magnet, ofa shunt or derived circuit containing 1 two electro-magnets, a cutout device, and a carbon-t'eedoperating device, the said cutout device being controlled by the magnet in the main circuit and one of the magnets in the i derived circuit, and the teed-operating device by the magnet in the main circuit and the other magnet in the derived circuit, substantially as set forth. l E). In an eleetric'arc lamp, the combination, l with two carbon-holders and their supportingframes, one of the said holders being provided with a beveled lug, and the other with a notch. i of a lever pivoted to one of the said frames and having a beveled end adapted to be engaged i by said lug, and a spring for holding the said I lever in engagement with said notch until re- 1 leased therefrom by said lug, substantially as set forth. 10. In an electric-arclamp, the combination, L with a globe-plate formed with a concav0-convex seat, a carbon-hoh'ler fitting loosely in said i seat, a binding-plate for said holder having an 1 annular lip, and a set-nut for securing said 1 binding-plate, substantially as set forth. t In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses. IIERIHANN A. GOIi-N. Witnesses:

L. E. IlIEAC-IIAH, l CHAS. 0. Evan'rs.

A Go 

